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Well the next day arrived, and after breakfast we looked to head into Arusha to do a little banking, revisit the sights of the town, and also do a little shopping. Planet Lodge is a little out of town, but my (mis)reading of the website had me believing there was a free shuttle into town from...

After two enjoyable days we departed for Arusha. Our Lake Chala sojourn represented the last of our independently booked travel with the upcoming pre-safari and safari accommodation organised by our safari tour company, Lion King Adventures, although we selected the accommodation in conjunction...

After a good night’s sleep (despite the noisy baboons) we breakfasted at our tent with our personal waiter service (!). We then commenced the walk which would take us around the ridge of the crater to the Kenyan border. The walk was hot, but with views well worth it. Part way around the crater...

Back online! Just back from our safari, where internet was ok for looking at things but no good for uploads. Now to resume the travel report where I left off. From Moshi we headed out to Lake Chala. This lake is situated north east of Moshi on the border with Kenya, and although not...

The site of our escape was the Kibo Palace Hotel, a multi-storey hotel in the centre of Moshi. Given the last-minute timing of our booking, there were no family rooms remaining, so we needed to book 2 rooms which made it slightly pricey. However, if we had only needed one room, the price would...

But the day was not over yet and involved another travel mistake, this time for which I probably need to take some responsibility. I had booked our accommodation some time ago, at a small place called The Secret Garden Hotel. I had of course checked out their website and Tripadvisor reviews and...

Finally the time came to board which, given we were on a small prop plane (ATR 72 twin turboprop), unsurprisingly boarding was off the tarmac. It would be ShelleyB-son’s first time in a prop plane and he was very excited. We were seated right near one of the propellers. Very empty flight...

Upon arrival in Dar es Salaam, our plan was to head to the Hyatt for lunch, then get a taxi to the airport. After running the gauntlet of porters (no we don’t need one), taxi and tuk tuks (ummm - I don’t think the 3 of us and our luggage will fit in your tiny tuk tuk), we made the short hike to...

Ali our drivr assured us we should still make the ferry, although it might be tight and depending upon traffic he might not be able to get us close to the gate. As it transpired Ali was able to drive right to the gate. We were very tight on time, so decided to use the porters. They are...

A big travel day which will require a few posts. The ultimate destination for the day was Moshi, in northern Tanzania, which was our jump off point for a trip to Lake Chala, on the border with Kenya. The nearest airport to Moshi (besides Moshi itself which doesn’t have any scheduled commercial...

Another day, another snorkel adventure. For our last full day in Zanzibar we arranged another snorkel day with Scubafish. Not really much to add here as it was quite similar to the first, although we were aboard the Caroline this time. Weather was better, with no rain, which allowed ShelleyB-son...

Surprisingly no. We did not get bitten at all by mozzies or other bugs in Zanzibar. They have almost eradicated malaria in Zanzibar and I think this included a large mozzie eradication programme. We commented that if we’d been around home we would have been eaten alive.

All of us love to kayak, and so it was high on our wish list to get on the water in a kayak in Zanzibar if we could. There were a few companies, but we decided to go with Ecokayak, a company in the south that takes kayak tours of Uzi island. I must admit we were all initially confused by the...

Just off the coast at Matemwe is a small atoll called Mnemba. The island itself does not have permanent habitation but does have a very exclusive hotel. Surrounding the island is a coral reef, some of which is in good condition, some less so, and still with a good variety of fish. Our journey...

From Stone Town we travelled to Matemwe, a town on the east coast of Zanzibar. For good or for ill, much of the accommodation on the east coast is made up of resorts, without that same “genuine town” feeling of Stone Town. Certainly that appears true of Matemwe, where it is quite hard to get...

As most of you probably know, Zanzibar is often called the Spice Island. Spices have long been culitvated in Zanzibar, and there is an almost equally long history of trading spices and fighting for control of that trade. These days spices and fruits are a major source of income for Zanzibar...

Yesterday’s taxi driver was, unsurprsingly for this part of the world, also available for private hire and tours. As we were happy with the drive into town, and his vehicle was well kept (and appropriately licenced), we arranged to have him take us to Jozani National Park. Jozani is the home of...

Sadly the DOH-ZNZ leg did not involve magical upgrades. As is common for DOH, we had to bussed to plane (an A320) and suffer through a short (but overnight) economy flight. Unusually for Qatar, the service was quite poor. Previously when I have travelled QR I found the service excellent...

And so the last day in Sweden arrived. Our flight was not scheduled until 3.10pm but we had some chores to do, including a bit of shopping for ShelleyB-son and flling in an online health form for Zanzibar. The latter turned out to be completely unnecessary but is not at clear on the government...

Have found a semi-reliable spot in our hotel room to get the wifi, so catching up a few days worth of posts. When I last updated we had just had NYE in Goteborg. New Years Day was mainly a travel day. We took the train back to Stockholm as we were flying on to Zanzibar the next day. The train...